here's how i use the reports we constantly refer to. first i assess them for the predicted value for the year. to do that i try to discern where analysts go with their estimates after the company's reports do. they raise them, lower them, keep them the same? let's say apple is using a report that is better than not only the posted numbers that you can find on a lot of websites but also beats the high man. some call it the whisper. the high man. the analyst with the most aggressively high estimates on the street. that will always cause a raising of the numbers for the rest of the year by everyone. if it is the end of the year for the numbers after that. i use that increase in earnings per share to try to figure out the increases from real business, actual sales. did they do better. not just the changes and share changes. i look more at the revenues than the actual earnings themselves. why is that important? a company can't change the sales line except by increasing demand, producing more, gaining more customers either at the expense of o